Trump's messaging backfires as GOP ballot requests slump in Pennsylvania

New data on mail-in ballot requests in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania show Democrats far outpacing Republicans. The New York Times reports, citing data from the Pennsylvania secretary of state’s office, that so far Democrats have requested about 881,000 mail ballots. That is more than twice the 373,000 ballots requested by Republicans.

Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes which are critical to the 270 needed to win the presidency. Donald Trump had a surprise victory in the state in 2016, but President Joe Biden won the election there in 2020 by 1.17 percentage points (80,555 votes). More than 2.6 million of the votes cast in the state in the last presidential election were mailed in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.